Boy oh boy … where to begin?
How about that Chase Elliott vs. Cody Ware showdown??
OK. We won’t start there (we will get to it, though!). I reckon we should start with the ending, right?
Because, despite Mother Nature doing her best to ruin it for us, the final hour (and lap) of Sunday’s Bristol Dirt race gave us plenty to talk about.
“I feel like Dale Earnhardt Sr. and I didn’t even do anything,” Kyle Busch told an … excited … crowd after backing into a surprise Easter night win. “Sometimes the seas part ways and you get one, so I’ll take it.”
Take it, Rowdy!
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Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick and the art of dirt racing
All right, let’s dive in.
Chase Briscoe (the better Chase?) had the best car Sunday, and did what any dirt racer would do on the final turn: send it, hope she sticks, and deal with the fallout later.
Unfortunately, his No. 14 didn’t clear Tyler Reddick coming out of Turn 4, the two went spinning, and Busch was there to win his 60th career Cup race.
Furthermore, that’s now 18 straight seasons with a win for Busch, tying him with … Richard Petty!
Not bad company.
But back to the Briscoe-Reddick final turn …
“I mean, you’re racing on dirt,” Reddick said after the race. “Going for the move on the final corner. It’s everything that as a driver you hope to battle for in his situation. I should have done a better job and pulled away so he wasn’t in range to try to make that move.”
Kevin Harvick is done with Bristol Dirt, but are the TV ratings?
The two drivers talked it over after the race — a moment we all saw and heard, live, thanks to a well placed Fox microphone — and both seemed pretty content with the end result.
See, Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott … you can wreck each other at Bristol and walk away happy!
Speaking of those two … both had their own demons this time around. Let’s start with Harvick, who made it home in time for Easter dinner after an early wreck.
Kevin, what did you think of the Bristol Dirt this year? Pretty fun, right?!
“I think it’s ridiculous that we’re doing what we’re doing,” he said. “I had a great car. The racetrack was fine. They just did a terrible job to start with. They’ve done this before.”
Well then. It’s not all bad, though, right? Surely this type of racing is salvageable, right?
“What’s the point, really? I guess the TV ratings will tell that. If the TV ratings are high, it’ll be great.”
Okeedokee!
Cody Ware is done being bullied by … Chase Elliott?
OK, Chase. Your turn.
Quick, who had Chase Elliott vs. Cody Ware on their bingo card for the season?!
“Who is that idiot … who is that guy,” the No. 9 team asked over the radio after Ware ran into the back of Chase under caution after the two made previous contact. “If he cuts our tire I’m gonna whip his …”
Cody, what’s the deal?
“I’m tired of getting bullied by all these guys,” Ware said over his radio.
“Copy that,” his team replied. “He’s mad because he had nothing for you.”
Couple things here before we move on.
I know Chase is in the middle of a 25-race winless streak, but, um … I’m not sure there’s ever, or will ever be, a time in the history of racing that Chase Elliott won’t have anything for Cody Ware, who has an average finish of 32nd in 64 career Cup races.
But … Clyde better be careful on this one, because the fellas in research tell me that Cody is 6-foot-4, while Chase is around 5-10.
Not sure the Hendrick horsepower is gonna help you on that one, Chase!
Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins NASCAR on Fox booth at Talladega
All right. Enough Bristol talk for a while …
We’re off to ‘Dega! And we’re bringing Dale Earnhardt Jr. with us.
Yep. Junior is crossing the aisle on Sunday, leaving his NBC booth for one week to be the next guest analyst in the Fox booth alongside Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer.
Quick aside: Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy hearing DW back in the booth last week. After hearing some of his replacements over the years, I think we can all agree that we missed the boogities.
Anyway, welcome back to ‘Dega, Dale! Junior won six times at Talladega, the last coming in 2015, while his daddy won there 10 times.
Don’t know if you knew this, but the name Earnhardt is pretty popular in that part of the country.
Welcome to the Fox team, Junior! I’m sure you’ll have a real tough time fitting in with Bowyer.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Kevin Harvick blasts NASCAR at Bristol and Cody Ware goes after Chase Elliott